Taemin sighed heavily as he sat down next to his friend, Kibum. He had so much work to finish for the end of midterms, and that was only a week from now.

Kibum looked at Taemin from his laptop and gave the tired boy a smile. “Still working on those projects?” He asked silently as to not disturb the other students in the library.

He received a low groan as an answer before hearing his head smack against the table. “Why is my group so irresponsible?!”

Pursing his lips, Kibum turned his eyes back on the screen, typing away with one hand and petting Taemin’s head with the other one. “Did you try talking to your professor?” He felt Taemin’s head nod. “What did she say?”

“She’s a ,” he replied sourly, making Kibum chuckle. “Kill me now?” He pleaded, turning to face Kibum, blinking rapidly once the older boy looked at him.

“I’d be glad to ease your pain but, surprisingly, that goes against my principals,” he said and Taemin faked a sob. “But I’ll help you, once I’m done with these two projects I have myself.”

“Dude, you’re going to take forever,” he said and Kibum hummed in agreement after a second of though.

“Then I’ll ask Jinki if he can help you,” he said with a small grin.

Jinki was Kibum’s boyfriend and one of the top students in biomathematics. He was sure the older man had too much on his plate to be helping out like that. Though, he didn’t doubt Jinki would agree on helping him. He was too nice for his own good.

“That’s fine, I’ll just stay overtime on the library to finish it quickly.”

Kibum raised a brow before shrugging, “Suit yourself. I gotta go to my next class so, see you around.” He closed his laptop, putting it in his bag before leaving with a wave.

“Sure, bye,” he said before taking out his notes for his next exam.

Minutes passed before Taemin heard his name being called, making him look up from his book. Jinki was in front of him, hair sticking out from all places. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to prevent from laughing out loud.

“What were you doing, Jinki hyung? Your hair is all over the place.”

Jinki ran a self-conscious hand through his hair and blushed slightly before pulling his jaw-length hair into a messy ponytail. Taemin waited patiently as Jinki’s slight embarrassment passed, he looked really cute when he was all flustered like that, before asking what he called him for.

“Oh, right. Umm, have you seen Kibum? I was supposed to meet him here but I ended up getting caught up in the labs,” he said as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

“He left half an hour ago for class.”

“Oh,” he said, stretching the word a bit.

Taemin chuckled at the face Jinki was making before shaking his head. “He didn’t seem mad so I think you’re good,” he said with a bit of laughter in his voice.

Jinki smiled softly and nodded, “Thank you.”

Taemin gave him a small nod before turning his attention back to his notes. However, he wasn’t able to concentrate as he felt Jinki’s presence linger, making him look back up. And just as he though, the older boy was still in front of him, shifting his weight from one foot to another with a small frown but stood still as soon as he saw Taemin look back up at him. Taemin rose a brow in curiosity at his behavior.

“Did you need something else, hyung?” He asked curiously. He though he saw nervousness in the other’s eyes but ignored it.

“I, umm,” he said, biting his lower lip before shaking his head quickly. “Nothing,” he offered a bright smile. “Good luck on your exam,” he said before waving at him goodbye and leaving hurriedly.

Taemin rose a hand in an awkward wave with a small frown adorning his features as he watched Jinki’s retreating form. He never got it why the older man did that sometimes. Always at the edge of telling him something before dismissing it completely and leaving in a hurry. He had once asked Kibum but the older boy just grinned at him and said he didn’t know what he was talking about.

Maybe he was just imagining it? Probably. But he didn’t dwell much on it as he watched Jinki’s ponytail sway from side to side with each step he took.

He looked down at his papers and told himself he was not checking out his friend’s boyfriend. He was only appreciating his cute ponytail because, goodness knows, Taemin had a thing for them.

~¤~

Taemin had been all week staying late at night at the library trying to finish his projects. Once in a while, his group project partners would show up to help a bit on it but, even with those rare occurrences, Taemin was still the one that made up more than 80% of their project.

It really ticked him off and, sometimes, he felt like not doing anything just to see those lazy bastard fail in their class. But, essentially, that would mean he would fail too. The only good thing about the project was that they had to point out who did what for its completion. That was the only thing that kept him motivated through those sleepless nights.

It was probably 10 pm, the two days before the due date to submit the projects, when he finally finished them. He was so happy, he felt like he could sleep for a thousand years as soon as he touched his bed.

There was still a fair share of students that were still working on their own projects or studying for midterm exams when he stood up to take his leave. As he passed the history section of the library, however, he remembered an essay he had postponed from his history class in favor of finishing his main course projects. Taemin felt like crying at the though that he still had one more work to do but, thankfully, it was only a five page essay of the topic of his choosing.

He decided to check the titles of the books, to see what picked up his interest, when he heard a low chuckle come from the other side of the bookshelf. He didn’t have to see to know it was probably a couple stealing kisses from each other and, maybe, even more.

What Taemin hadn’t expect as he turned a corner to check the next bookshelf was to see Jinki against a wall, smiling brightly at a taller boy that held him by his waist, kisses raining down on the older boy’s neck. Taemin froze in place before ducking and hiding in the corridor he had just left. He took another peek at the two, still cuddling and kissing each other.

Taemin felt so confused because, as far as he knew, Kibum and Jinki were still together. He got angry at the though of Jinki breaking Kibum’s heart by cheating on him. And, even though his first instinct was to walk up to Jinki and demand an explanation, he decided that not making a scene without having all the facts at hand was better. So, with a tightly clenched fist, Taemin exit the library, his history essay forgotten.

~¤~

Taemin found Kibum, the next day, at the gazebo by the gardens. He could see Kibum typing away in his laptop, probably still working on his project. He was a forever perfectionist.

The younger boy sat on the other side of the table, putting his message bag in front of him before placing his head on it and hugging it. Kibum looked at him after a few seconds and smiled, offering him some grapes from his bowl. Taemin happily took a few and ate them, humming at how juicy they were.

Kibum continued to work on his project, not saying much to the other and Taemin could only stare at him, deep in though. He didn’t know how to approach the topic since, if they were still together or not, it was still a very delicate subject. Though, Taemin didn’t realize he had been staring for a while now until he heard Kibum’s voice.

“Let it out, what’s on your mind?” He said, closing his computer to give Taemin his full attention. He was practically done with his project so it didn’t matter if he finished it now or later that night.

Taemin looked a bit troubled by Kibum’s sudden question, not knowing what to say. He looked down at the table and took a deep breath. “Hyung, are you and Jinki hyung together?” Taemin asked carefully, looking up at his last words to see Kibum’s reaction at his question.

The older boy frown and nodded, confused as to why Taemin was asking him that. “Of course we are, why would you ask?”

Taemin felt guilty immediately, thinking back at what he saw in the library the night before and not knowing how to proceed now that he finally initiated the conversation.

He looked at Kibum with sad eyes for being the one to deliver the bad news. “Then I think he’s cheating on you.”

Kibum held Taemin’s gaze for a few seconds, processing in his minds Taemin’s words before a grin played on his lips. “Did you, by any chance, saw him with a taller guy with black hair and big eyes?” He asked and watched Taemin confused look as he spoke.

“Yeah… How do you know?”

Kibum chuckled before petting Taemin’s hair. “Relax, kiddo. I know about him. His name is Minho, Jinki’s other boyfriend.”

Taemin, at that, looked completely puzzled. His mind blank, not understanding what was being said to him. “What?”

“We’re polyamorous, Taemin. That means we both have boyfriends of our own, too. I haven’t talked about him before but, I have a boyfriend named Jonghyun. He’s actually very interested in meeting you. I talk about you all the time with him.”

“Wait, hold up. So, you guys aren’t cheating?” Taemin asked, both brows high up, hiding under his bangs.

“No, we are very faithful, mind you.” He said.

“So you’re with Jinki hyung but his with Minho and you are with this Jonghyun guy?”

“Minho and I are with ‘this Jonghyun guy’,” he said amused at Taemin’s slow processing.

Taemin stared at him for a while before letting out a loud, heavy sigh. “Thank goodness, I though I was going to all over your relationship.”

Kibum laughed and shook his head. “I’m grateful you told me, it means you care.”

Taemin was finally feeling better about the whole thing, it was great to know nothing bad was happening with Jinki and Kibum. As he made to take another grape, though, Kibum gave him one of those infamous mischievous smirks he gives people before making them flip their all over the place. Taemin swallowed thickly. “What?”

He shrugged casually. “Oh, nothing. Just that Jinki has a mega huge crush on you. Nothing special.”

Taemin choked on air as he turned visibly red, sending Kibum into a hysterical laughing fit.

“What’s so funny, babe?” Jinki asked as he sat beside Kibum, kissing his cheek tenderly.

“Taemin knows you have a crush on him and almost choked to death,” he said nonchalantly.

Jinki felt his blood rush to his face, heating it up and turning a bright red, much like Taemin, and looked at the younger boy with wide eyes before turning back to his boyfriend. Kibum though it was hilarious.

“Kibum!”

“Oh, relax. I could smell you both crushing from miles away.” He said with a dismissing gesture of his hand. “Anyways, I have class. I’ll see you both later,” he kissed Jinki’s temple and patted Taemin’s head before disappearing for his class, leaving two flustered love birds to burn holes at the table while wearing goofy smiles on their faces.

A/N: This story will be written at any moment inspiration comes to me or if anyone requests something specific and relevant for the story ^^